And Youtube is gone;though this time there is at least a semblance of a valid reason. The conversations between the government and top military brass about the situation in Syria was put online. Two down, one to go. Maybe I should place a bet on Facebook being gone before the weekend?

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

The only thing this is all about is one man staying in power and nothing more than that. The latest revealed conversation was supposed to have taken place in a safe room between several people amongst whom the chief of the intelligence service. The fact that they could be snooped on tells me that all the earlier recordings most likely were authentic.

Elections are tomorrow, your guess is as good as anyone's as to who will come out on top.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

Obviously, though I should add that they are still counting the votes and that party affiliation in Turkey can be a very territorial matter. It seems near impossible though that the opposition will gain the biggest prize of them all; Istanbul.

What is a bit worrying is that the website of the Zaman newspaper can't be reached tonight. I can only hope it's not the start of a witch hunt.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

The bigger point is that the Ak Parti won more votes than in the previous local elections.

I think the only way you can explain this by seeing the AKP as an organisation that steals on a huge scale but at the same time does deliver things people really want; highways, metro and rail connections, affordable housing, etc etc etc. What people don't realise is that the money that's stolen is really gone, and that all the nice things for the people are paid for with debt. And there's no telling if Turkey will be able to service that debt.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

I agree with you, but clearly half the Turks don't, and that's bad in a country with Turkey's political system. Erdogan will take this as a green light to continue his clampdown on the opposition. Newspapers are already afraid to print anything negative about him.

I agree with you, but clearly half the Turks don't, and that's bad in a country with Turkey's political system. Erdogan will take this as a green light to continue his clampdown on the opposition. Newspapers are already afraid to print anything negative about him.

There are still some media outlets that are critical, but they will come under a much stronger pressure to fall in line. To be honest, in Turkey I never felt that you could freely express your mind. The difference is that this time round the government actually has the support of almost 1 out of 2 voters.

I presume nothing is going to get AKP out of power short of an economic meltdown. Which is also something I wouldn't necessarily wish for the people of Turkey.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

There are also some media outlets that are critical in Russia; that can't really be mistaken for a free media. Ultimately, the people just don't care (or at least the people who wouldn't have opposed the AKP anyway).

Used ballots, marked for the main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have been found in the garbage of six schools used as polling stations in the southern province of Osmaniye.

City residents reported the incident to the police when they found the used ballots in the trash in Osmaniye’s Düziçi district. According to reports, the schools where the ballots were found are the Uzunbanı Elementary School, Atatürk High School, Atatürk Elementary School, Cumhuriyet High School, Cumhuriyet Elementary School and ÇEAŞ Anatolian High School.

It was claimed that the ballots were planned to be burned.

Candidates from the CHP and MHP have filed an official complaint to the Public Prosecutors’ Office and have appealed to the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

The Düziçi Police Department has launched an investigation into the incident.

The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) candidate Ökkeş Namlı won in the Düziçi district with 10,294 votes. The CHP’s Alper Öner received 9,854 votes, while the MHP’s Muhammet Kaya received 5,179 votes.

There are a lot of reports of this kind. The way I understand it all ballots should have been shipped to Ankara after the count. People are combing through the results as reported centrally and decentral. I think the risk of this all is that Turkey will descend into a state of chaos.

The government may want to try to get our of this problem by throwing the country into a war with/in Syria.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

Seems as if someone didn't like the plain truth. Granted, Gauck is no diplomat but for Erdogan to accuse Gauck of meddling with "innerpolitical topics of Turkey" reeks just a tiny bit of hipocrisy: After all, it was Erdogan himself who, on two separate visits to Germany, advised the Turkish people here to "not integrate themselves into Germany".

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Seems as if someone didn't like the plain truth. Granted, Gauck is no diplomat but for Erdogan to accuse Gauck of meddling with "innerpolitical topics of Turkey" reeks just a tiny bit of hipocrisy: After all, it was Erdogan himself who, on two separate visits to Germany, advised the Turkish people here to "not integrate themselves into Germany".

It is a well known truth that only the current opinion of the Padisah represents the truth. It's sad that Germany has chosen a preacher under the influence of a preachter in Pennsylvania as it's president.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

At a lecture by the president of the Turkish Bar society at the Council of State in Ankara, the man had the audacity to be critical of the Padisah. Righteously offended the Padisah confronted the scoundrel and stormed out of the room in a regal hissy fit.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

Well over 200 miners die in an accident in a mine in south-western Turkey and the best he can come up with as an excuse is that in the 19th century miners died in huge castastrophes in Britain. Guess dying is just part of the job when you're a miner in Turkey.

Interestingly enough that's coming from the same man who nixed an inquiry into the safety standards at exactly the same mine that cost so many men their lives today.

Greece shows us that there is a kind of politician worse than the ones that break their election promises; the ones that keep their election promises.

Well over 200 miners die in an accident in a mine in south-western Turkey and the best he can come up with as an excuse is that in the 19th century miners died in huge castastrophes in Britain. Guess dying is just part of the job when you're a miner in Turkey.

Interestingly enough that's coming from the same man who nixed an inquiry into the safety standards at exactly the same mine that cost so many men their lives today.

The statistics also proclaim that every Turkish miner should search for another job, stat.

For every million ton of coal you dig up, some people will die. Mining is a dangerous job and accidents do indeed happen. But there are accidents and accidents. Which results in:
0.02 deaths per Mton in the US,
2.27 deaths per Mton in China,
7.22 deaths per Mton in Turkey.

Which means effectively that a fatal incident is quite a bit more likely in Turkey than even in China. Ain't that great?

Then video taken on the same day in Soma showed Erdogan telling a man "don't be nasty," according to the footage aired Friday by DHA. The remarks initially reported and translated by DHA were confirmed by a CNN native Turkish speaker.

"What happened, happened. It is from God... If you boo the country's prime minister, you get slapped," Erdogan is heard saying.

That was after another video clip emerged showing a crowd outside a grocery store angrily booing Erdogan. As the Prime Minister entered the crowded store, he appeared to put his arm around the neck of a man who was later identified as a miner.

After the confrontation, the video captured what appeared to be Erdogan's security guards beating the same man to the floor. The miner said later that Erdogan slapped him, possibly by mistake. He wants an apology for the way he was treated by the Prime Minister's staff.

In addition, a photograph surfaced Wednesday of an aide to Erdogan kicking a protester, an image that quickly became a symbol of the anger felt by many against the government, and amid mounting questions over safety practices at the mine.